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Edit Bay & Component DA
Hi,
I don’t post too often, but whenever I’ve needed help…the Cow is the place to go! My question is regarding my edit bay.
The FCP bay has been running well for over 2.5 years and I’ve finally added a plasma screen for client viewing. Here’s the issue. I’d like the output of my FCP to feed the plasma screen SD & HD analog component. The Plasma does not have SDI or HDSDI inputs. Currently, I have the component output of a KONA 2 and an Aja I/O LA going into a TecNec powered A/B switch. The output of the switch goes into my Sony monitor, then loops out of the monitor and into the UVW 1800. The output of the UVW 1800 then goes into the I/O. Black is being fed to all devices via a Horita BB Generator.
Here is the question. In order to feed the Plasma component video, should I buy a DA to split the signal coming out of the A/B switch, (The split signal would feed the Sony Monitor and the Plasma) or should I use BNC-T connectors. My concern is with the signal strength when using a BNC-T, and whether the TecNec can handle the Component HD signal when I feed HD analog component out of the Kona2. All the BNC cables are kept to minimum length, the longest single cable is 6′ and I do not have extenders on the Kona 2 harness.
The answer is probably a patch bay, after reading Bob’s article in the Creative Cow mag, but any advice is appreciated.
Best,
BillFCP 5.1.4
G5 Dual 2.5 8G Ram
Kona2
Aja IO/LA
Tec Nec A/b Switcher
Sony PVM-20L5 Monitor
Panasonic 1200a DVCProHD Deck
Sony UVW1800
Horita Black Burst Generator
Mackie 16
Huge Array 1.25 TB SCSI
Panasonic TH-42PX600U 42″ Plasma Televisionhttp://www.saturationproductions.com
131 Varick Street . Suite 926
New York . NY . 10013
212.929.5043 Office
646.498.7673 Mobile -
6 Replies
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[saturationproductions] “The answer is probably a patch bay,”
That would be the easiest and most efficient.
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Under no cicumstances should you use a BNC-T connector (double termination would result in geting a low signal to both monitors. Get a component DA or use a patch panel.
KB
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I’m a big fan of routers and switchers. You don’t have a ton of gear to manage so you don’t need a $30,000.00 32X32 or 64X64 router to worry about. There’s a ton of analog component switchers on ebay in the $100.00 – $200.00 bracket for 8X1, 8X2 configuration. You can probably get an 8X4 or 8X8 for the cost of a new component patchbay with a few component patch cables which aren’t cheap, so you can probably save with a router and have the prestiege of not having to get up to change your i/o configurations.
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Hi Guys,
Thanks for the info. After looking around Ebay, there seem to be a bunch of component switchers, but most use RCA connectors. Does anyone have a preference on a 4×2 switcher that has componenet BNC I/O? It can also be passive. At first glance, the Kramer VS-2042 seems good.
Best,
Billhttp://www.saturationproductions.com
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[saturationproductions] ” there seem to be a bunch of component switchers, but most use RCA connectors”
You should double check this, it could be just bad photos as most component switchers I’ve seen are bnc.
These days in this business we use consumer, prosumer, industrial, and professional broadcast equipment to fill a particular need. Industrial switchers designed for multimedia management in large venues (like NAB) would be quite useful for this particular application. Although I’ve used Ross, Panasonic and Videonics camera switchers my use of router type switchers in a post enviroment is limited and I can’t really speak to the relyability of various models.
I do have a few kramer switchers and I like the fact they can kram input 2 out of output 1 and at the same time route input 5 out of output 2 or one input into 2 outputs. They look good too. For our needs, although I’d rather have the feature than not, we don’t need interval switchers as we merely want to connect equipment together for each job and not switch during a live performance or broadcast. Extron makes a lot of bnc equipt’d component switchers for large venue applications and I’m sure they would work well too (they don’t look too pretty like Kramer). There are always lots on ebay. I would compare some 4X4; 6X4; 6X6 etc. models so there is room for expansion. You never know what is in the future and they are all about the same size.
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Hi,
After I posted the last question I dug deeper into Ebay and found Extron stuff to be pretty suitable. Do RGBHV DA’s/switchers work fine for HD/SD video applications? Alot of the DAs/switchers I see from Extron on ebay are used for projectors/computers, hence the RGBHV. I called Extron and they simply said not to hook up any ref to the HV bnc connectors. Everything in my edit bay is plugged into the same power source, and I haven’t had any sync/ref issues to date.
Correct me if I’m wrong regarding mhz..but, the longer the cable run, the more powerful you need the DA/switcher to be?
bill
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